


Silver Lining

by Sylph_of_Space



Category: Borderlands, Tales from the Borderlands - Fandom
Genre: Additional Tags to Be Added, F/M, Novelization, Some Adult Humor, some violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-06
Updated: 2017-01-27
Packaged: 2018-05-25 00:34:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6172993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sylph_of_Space/pseuds/Sylph_of_Space
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rhys wanted a simple life as a company man in Hyperion, with his two friends Vaughn and Yvette. A few knives in select backs and he worked his way up the corporate ladder. Vasquez put everything he had worked towards down the drain. So, he obviously had to get him back. This brought him to the terrifying planet of Pandora, where everything you see is more likely to eat you up and spit you out than be friendly. Even the people. Hyperion were not welcome down here. </p><p>Fiona wanted the money for herself and her sister Sasha. She wanted to give Sasha a better chance and get out of Hollow Point. Of course, nothing every goes to plan, and then they meet the Hyperion stooge, Rhys. Shit hits the fan rather quickly in their adventure together, and they learn to rely on a stupid corporate ass-kisser to help them out. More often than not, they help him out. </p><p>Disclaimer: Don't own a thing, just wanted to write it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hyperion

Prosperity Junction. Didn't seem very prosperous to Rhys. The stupid little machine in his hand was beeping nonstop at this point. He knew she had to be close. 

"Fiona? Fionaaaaa!" He sighed. "C'mon, we can work this out!" He yelled again. Then, someone came up to him, dressed in a lot of clothing-they must have been burning up in this heat!-and some sort of mask, holding a big, heavy gun. "Fiona? What, is there some sort of radiation leak I don't know about?" He laughed, just as he got clocked in the face with the butt of the previously mentioned big heavy gun. 

Out he went. 

When he finally came to, he was being dragged through the desert by his feet, he realized. His arms were bound to his sides with a shit ton of duct tape, and even his cybernetic metal arm couldn't break through it when he struggled. Seeing no other option, he settled for asking questions. 

"Where exactly are we going?" Rhys asked, more than a bit disgruntled. 

"I ask the questions." Was the man's response. His voice was gravelly and almost robotic sounding. 

"Okay, then... Do you mind asking yourself where you're taking me?" Rhys pressed. He let his sarcastic side get the best of him sometimes. His feet were suddenly dropped and the stranger came up to his side, and promptly kicked him in the ribs. "Ooh, owww! What the hell!?" He glared lightly at the stranger-that's what we'll call him for now, The Stranger-as he knelled down beside him. 

"Tell me about the Gortys Project." The Stranger said. 

"Is that what this is about?" Rhys scoffed. "Look, Gortys is bad business. If you want a real hot investment, I am on the ground floor of some property on Eden--" He stopped when he heard the sound of a gun being cocked, and then saw said gun being aimed at his crotch. "Okay, okay!" 

"Don't be a smart ass." Was all The Stranger said, pulling the gun back. "I'm not a patient person. So just start talking." And he picked up Rhys' feet and began to drag him along again. 

"just where do you start when you're getting dragged through the desert and, uh..." Rhys almost laughed. Almost. 

"From the beginning." The Stranger grumbled.

"Right..." Rhys muttered, noting that he was being dragged into a desolate town. Yeah, Prosperity Junction looked very not-prosperous. It was falling apart, but it looked like it was in better shape than some other towns he had seen in his time on Pandora. "I guess you could say it all started with a promotion. See, I had spent my entire career working at Hyperion. So, I suppose in a way that makes me one of the bad guys in this story. And Handsome Jack? He was the baddest guy of them all. And I wanted to be just like him. Everyone did. Which lead to a company overflowing with assholes. When Handsome Jack died, it somehow got even worse. It took some time to fit in... But a few stabs in select backs, a new haircut, and help from a few friends, and I was on my way to get the promotion that would change my life. I was a little distracted, but luckily, Vaughn was focused on the important things." He sighed, his mind going back to the memory of the day everything started. He had been walking down the hall with Vaughn, going to see Henderson for his promotion. 

 

The walls of Hyperion were all metal and grey, but Rhys had spend the majority of his career in those walls. He had worked with the corporation everyone on Pandora despised, but he didn't care at the time. He was on his way to the top. "So, what are you gonna buy first? I know what Henderson is making. I do his payroll." Vaughn, Rhys' best friend and money man, asked him as they continued their trek down the halls of Hyperion. "If you're getting even a fraction of what he makes, you'll be rolling in it!" He grinned. 

Rhys shook his head with a small smile of his own, not saying anything. Vaughn continued on. "Yeah, there's this sniper rifle I've been looking at for a while now. It's a Dahl, right. Called, uh, "Reaver's Edge". And it's awesome. You just feel so powerful holding it." He waved his arms around excitedly as he spoke. "We're meeting up with Yvette after to celebrate." He added. 

Rhys nodded at this. "Yep. Sounds good." He said simply as they came to the door to Henderson's office. 

"Look, we've done a lot of awful stuff to get you to this point. Do i regret some of it? Sure I do. Every night it haunts my dreams. But that doesn't matter now! Cause you made it. You deserve this, man." Vaughn smiled proudly. "And don't ever think you don't." He paused, then added, "And don't think about the Eridum mine deal we put together." 

"Thanks for the help, Vaughn. Really, I couldn't have done this without you and Yvette." Rhys told his friend with a smile. 

"Hey man, don't sweat it. I'm just glad we got you here. You know I crunched the numbers one night and figured out there was a 45% chance someone would kill you before this day." Vaughn explained with his hands on his hips. 

"Glad... That didn't happen." Was all Rhys could say with a nervous chuckle. 

"Me too. It was, uh, real touch and go for a while there." The money man smiled nervously, and Rhys's smile fell rather quickly. "Uh... Alright then! Let's get that Hyperion face on." 

"Oh, right. Yeah." Rhys thought for a moment, then raised his right eyebrow, looking at Vaughn for him to judge the look.

"Hmm... No, we need some condescending. It's a little too friendly right now. Okay, tell you what. Tilt your head back, like you asked me if there was something up your nose." 

Rhys did just that. "Like this?" He muttered. 

"Perfect, you don't respect me at all." Vaughn said approvingly. Rhys flashed him a thumbs up with his cybernetic arm, and then walked into the office as the doors slid open. 

"Mr... Henderson?" He asked in an unsure tone. Something seemed wrong to him, but he couldn't place what it was just yet. 

"Have a seat, Rhys, I'll be with you in just a moment. No, I wasn't talking to you. Yes, I'm talking to you now." A voice said in the chair behind the desk, but the chair was facing away from him. He walked towards the desk, glancing around. That voice sounded familiar, and not like Henderson's voice... "Yeah, but I don't want it in red, I want it in black. Because black is better! Look, don't concern yourself with "why?" Okay, Jerry? Concern yourself with how. And just send the car over when it's ready." Oh no. Rhys knew who it was now based off of the name plate facing him. "Company car. Didn't even have to ask." The chair spun around. 

Facing him was none other than Hugo Vasquez, Rhys's nemesis at Hyperion, with his stupid head full of hair and really nice beard.


	2. Hugo Flippin' Vasquez

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have an excuse for not updating any of my stories. Accept my humblest apology. For this year, I decided to be a better author.

Vasquez. Rhys' Hyperion nemesis. Sure, this company was full of assholes, but Vasquez... Vasquez was their king. With his stupid, well-kept hair and his dumb 'I'm better than you' look he did with his eyebrows, Rhys just _hated_ the guy. Rhys just stared as Vasquez kicked his feet up on the desk. "You look surprised to see me, Rhys... and if I'm reading the situation right, and I usually am... You're not too happy about it either." Vasquez said in his usual snarky tone. "This all came together quick. So you might not have been in the loop. But, it's for the better. At least for me." A small chuckle escaped him, his bluetooth earpiece flashing a blue light.

"So where's Henderson?" Rhys finally found his voice within his head, still seeming to process whats happened. 

"He.... Stepped out." Vasquez paused, watching Rhys' reaction. He kept his face neutral for the moment, not giving the ass who's shoes were scuffing the very nice desk the reaction he wanted. Surely this was a weird joke, right? "You're going to be reporting to me now, Rhys." Finally, he lifted his legs off the desk and put his feet back on solid ground. "And I want you to know, the promotion that you worked so hard to get. That's still coming to you." Sarcasm dripped from his voice. 

Rhys sat down, deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt. For the moment. "Well, that's a relief, cause I--"

"But this is about more than that, Rhys. It's about your future in this company." Vasquez interrupted rudely, standing up to sit on the desk. Probably just to be above Rhys. "Look, you wanna know the reason why I'm in that chair... And you're not?" He asked as Rhys just watched him, leaning back in his chair. "For the exact same reason why North is North, why the handsome guy always gets the girl, and why every spaceship in the universe is shaped like a cock." Rhys just gave him a weird look. "It's destiny, Rhys... And men, real men, men like me... make their own." He started to walk to the massive ceiling to floor window that showed space beyond it. "You can hold a grudge if you like, no harm no foul, your thoughts are your own." He turned to face Rhys with a serious tone. "But bad things can happen when you swim against fate. Sometimes men find themselves standing in the way of other men's destiny... You don't wanna be that man." 

As he spoke, Rhys glanced at the window. There was a blue-faced body floating in space. Was that...? It was! It was _Henderson_ out there. Rhys' eyes widened as he sat up, staring at Henderson's shocked face. "Wow. I could not have timed that better, that really helps dramatically make my point..." Vasquez smirked widely, walking back to the desk again. "Which is this. This promotion is gonna take you out of the way of other people's destiny and out you on your own path." He put his hands on the desk. "And that, my friend, is why I am promoting to-" Rhys was leaning forward in anticipation when a ding interrupted Vasquez. "Jerry! Why isn't my new car digi-structing in my office yet?" He yelled into the phone while Rhys gave him an impressive stink eye. 

"Vasquez. It's August." A new voice that was decidedly not Jerry said. This caught Rhys' attention. 

"Oh. August. Uh... Cool. Listen I actually have somebody here with me so--" Vasquez tried to say, but was interrupted again. 

"Are you buyin' this Vault Key or what 'cause I--" 'August' said. Now this really had Rhys' attention. A Vault Key? He sat up straighter to catch more information if he could. 

Unfortunately, Vasquez took it off the speakerphone, changing it to the bluetooth in his ear. "How did this happen so quick? I thought I'd have more time." A pause. "Of course I'm still interested, I-- Yes, i'm near a computer." He flipped the computer around to use it. "Ten million. Yeah. It's just... That's a lot of money to get together on short notice." Rhys narrowed his eyes at the computer, getting an idea. "I mean, I'm not trying to be obstinate but I need time." _Even the way he speaks is the worst_ Rhys thought, mentally rolling his eyes. Vasquez started to pace by the window, leaving Rhys to examine the room. 

He stared at Pandora through the window. _Why do the biggest scumbags always have the best view?_ His gaze shifted to the very dead Henderson, still floating around. What a waste of a good suit. Also, years of sucking up, out the airlock. Rhys reached forward to turn the computer, because he was a snooper, but Vasquez nearly caught him. He awkwardly played it off as running a hand through his hair, amazed that Vasquez just glared it off. He still felt the need to snoop, though, so he activated his cybernetic echo eye to do just that. 

With it, he was able to scan things and people. He could scan Pandora outside, which revealed nothing new to him, or even Henderson, finding out he was Not Well. Go figure. Finally, he scanned the computer and discovered it was viewing an encrypted file. Well now he just had to know. He opened a hologram-like screen in the palm of his cybernetic hand, downloading and decrypting the file. It pulled up a photo of a cone-like thing with purple shiny bits to it. It was a Vault Key, located at a place called the World of Curiosities. He tuned back in to the conversation Vasquez was having, now that he had the info he wanted. 

"Why are you trying to screw me on this?" A pause. Rhys sat with a cocky smile on his face. Vasquez made his way back over to the desk as he wrapped up the conversation. "Oh, fine. Just wait there, okay? I can only be down... If it's gonna be ten million dollars, I'm gonna need another hour or two." Yet another pause. "Okay. Yeah. I'll be there in a bit.... Well then just stay there. It's a tourist shop, right? Buy a mug or something." Pause. "Sure. Sure, sure. Okay. Say hi to your mom." The call ended. "Dammit." He turned around to face Rhys finally. "Oh. Riiiight. Ah... What were we talking about?" 

Rhys leaned back a little, eyeing Vasquez. "Uh, I think it was something about buying a Vault Key. Right?" He tried to sass him. 

"Oh. Just like that> "Buyin' a Vault Key, right?" You're like a kid sounding out the words." Vasquez stared at Rhys for a moment. "Oh right. Your, uh, promotion." He sat on the desk again. "Henderson was a fool. He didn't know his place. He needed lesson number one. Humility. But you. I respect you Rhys. That's why I'm going to make you Assistant... Vice..." Rhys looked hopeful. For a second. "Janitor." Rhy's expression immediately fell as the words hit him like a skag running full speed. 

"What? N-No. No. Y-y-you can't." Rhys tried to protest, knowing this was basically suicide in this company.

"I'm the boss now, Rhys. I do whatever I want." Vasquez stood. "Report to sweage scow twenty-three, effective immediately." 

Now Rhys stood, trying to be intimidating. "You better get an eye installed in the back of your head, 'cause y-you never know when... I could be creeping up, behind you and you--" He was never very good at comebacks. 

His failed comeback got him a punch in the face. He hit the floor hard. "I'm your boss, Rhys. Get used to that." Vasquez said cruelly from above him. "This is what I'm talking about when I say humility. That was lesson number two. Don't make lesson number three about a number two." 

Rhys looked up at him with a bloody nose. "What?" What Vasquez just said literally made no sense. Even with potential brain damage. 

"Don't make me crap on the floor and make you clean it up!" Vasquez raised his voice at Rhys as Rhys stood up. "You're dismissed Rhys." So Rhys started to walk away, defeated, wiping the blood from his face. "I'll let you know when I need my trashcan emptied." Vasquez called out to him. 

The doors opened automatically and Vaughn jumped back, because he totally wasn't dropping any eves or anything of the sort. Nah, he wasn't that kind of guy. "What the hell was that? He can't do this to us!" Vaughn started up right away. 

"He just did." Even Rhys' voice sounded defeated. 

"No... No, no, this can't be happening." Vaughn shook his head as the two friends started to walk down the hall. 

"I'm finished Vaughn. I'm finished. You know how this place is. There's blood in the water, and everyone can smell it!" Rhys nearly wailed. 

"No, no they can't. Not yet, unless you don't keep it down-" Vaughn started to say, but Rhys kicked over a trashcan anyways out of anger. In hindsight, it was a bad idea. 

An alarm sounded and a voice sounded over the intercom. "Senior Vice Janitor Rhys to sector D451 for trash cleanup because that is your job now, to clean up trash with your bare hands." The cool female voice announced, just as Yvette walked up. Great. 

"Sorry, you were saying something. I interrupted you." Rhys sighed to Vaughn as Yvette crossed her arms with a questioning look. 

"Rhys. Why are you cleaning up trash?" The boys female friend asked calmly. "I thought you were getting a promotion."

"Henderson's dead." There was a note of frantic panic in Rhys' voice. 

"What? Are you sure?" She questioned. 

"Yeah. I mean, you can ask him yourself, he's floating _outside_ in _**space**_!" He continued, his voice now really panicked but quiet. 

Vaughn picked up now. "It's that prick Vasquez. He threw Henderson out an airlock and demoted Rhys to trashman." He muttered. 

"Holy crap. So, does that mean you're not buying?" Yvette asked. She was a lunch leech, but Rhys' other best friend and a requisitions master. No one answered her. "well, just... Trying to lighten the mood... And I didn't bring my wallet so if someone pays for me..." She trailed off, following the boys as they started to walk again. 

"I'll tell you who's gonna pay. Vasquez. We can't let that prick get away with this. We need to do something." Vaughn insisted. 

"He just _killed_ a guy. Maybe it's better we lay low for a bit." Yvette pointed out quietly. 

"We steal his deal." Rhys spoke suddenly. "Vasquez set up a deal on Pandora for a Vault Key." 

"That must be why he got the promotion. The only thing Hyperion cares more about than money is Vault Keys." Vaughn pointed out. "It's perfect! I mean, not only do we screw over Assquez, we have a frickin' Vault Key. What're they worth? Like a billion dollars?" He sounded excited about the idea. 

"Yeah, but we need ten million dollars, right now, to make the deal." Rhys explained. Vaughn smirked a little. 

"Hold please." Vaughn said and everyone stopped walking. He pressed a button on his hightech nerd glasses and two seconds later "Done."

Rhys stared at his best friend for a moment. "I'm not gonna lie... That was impressive." 

"I'm in accounting." He said like it was no problem. "It's what I do. Ten million bucks is chump change around here. By the time anyone notices we'll have a Vault Key." 

"Cool." Yvette was less impressed. "Well. Looks like you boys got it all figured out. I'm gonna go eat. Alone. Call me if you don't get killed, alright?" She called to the boys walking away from her. 

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hey! We need your help. We need clearance, transportation. You're a requisitions master. We need that stuff." Vaughn almost begged his female lunch leech of a friend. 

"Yeah, maybe a Loader Bot or two, you know, if things get dicey." Rhys added casually. 

"Look, it's one thing stealing from a bunch of poor suckers on Pandora. You're talking about stealing from _Hyperion_." Yvette stressed.

"But we're friends! Friends... Help each other steal stuff. I mean, that's how it works." Vaughn tried to convince her.

Rhys was the one to break her down. "Come on, I'll buy you the lunch I owe you when we get back."

"Fine." Yvette gave in. "But you're buying me lunch now, _and_ when you get back." 

"Done. We've got a few hours." Rhys told her. 

"Go withdraw the cash. I'll get you guys clearance to Pandora, get you geared up, and issue you a standard Hyperion town car." Yvette listed off all the things they would need and she would be so graciously getting them. Vaughn made a fuss over the standard, but she pointed out that it would be more protection.

Rhys stopped their small argument with a truly brilliant idea. "No, no... Don't worry about it. I have a car in mind."


	3. Prosperity Junction

On Pandora, in the shadow of Helios, a man dug a hole. Everyone on Pandora wanted treasure, be it in a chest or a Vault. This man was lucky, because he struck... Well, not gold, but something. His radio was playing loudly as he hopped down into the deep hole he dug. He pushed out the box he found, climbing out and grinning down at the box. A huge noise sounded from the sky, coming from Helios and likely from Hyperion. As he watched something leave the mechanical moon, a bullet flew through his skull. He fell, dead, and a nearby bandit lowered his gun. He walked over, staring at the dead man for a moment as his fingers twitched slightly. He knelt down to the box that came from the hole, opening it and staring at the thing inside that glowed a brilliant green. As he admired his reward, something hit him from the sky and he, too, fell dead. 

What hit him was a car from Helios, the thing that distracted the earlier man. The shell of the car popped off as it drove on the Pandoran surface, revealing a black car with yellow accents, with the license plate "VA5QU3Z" on the back. As the car drove through the winding mountains, it passed many creatures, including a Psycho that had been hung from a sign announcing Prosperity Junction was just ahead. It didn't seem very... Prosperous. 

"AHH CRAP!" Came Vaughn's shout as the car slammed into... What the hell was that? The car spun to a stop, the two men inside the car panicking. 

"Holy freakin' crap, what was that?" Rhys.

"What did we even- What did we even hit? I hope that wasn't like a really ugly person..." Vaughn. "Ugh, shhhhhcrap. I think we-- I think we killed it." He turned to Rhys in worry. "Are we murderers now?" He looked out the window to see what they had hit before. 

"Well. At least it didn't suffer." Rhys pointed out. It looked like it was just a skag anyways, who cared about them? They bred like rabbits out here. 

"Yeah, I guess." Vaughn sounded defeated. "Sucks though."

"Yeah. _Sucks._ " Rhys agreed, driving away. The skag they hit moved and twitched, because it was not dead, but neither of them noticed. 

They finally reached the town, driving through it slowly. "So... What do we say if someone asks where we got the money? We should have a story." Vaughn explained to his friend Rhys. "I'd prefer not to say we stole it from Hyperion. That would not go over well." He laughed, but it was nervous and forced. 

"We can just say it's for charity." Rhys sounded unconcerned with all aspects of this. "We say it's some sort of "Open a Vault for Pandorans" kind of deal. People love stuff when it's attached to a charity. They hardly ever question their intentions." He shrugged off the concerns of Vaughns. 

"Sooooo.... This looks..." Vaughn looked out the window to see a fight going down out on the street, with no one intervening or even looking remotely concerned. "Not good." He concluded. The men fighting shot the car dirty looks, making Vaughn shrink back. 

"It's Pandora. What did you expect?" Rhys, again, sounded cool, collected, and unconcerned. 

"Yeah, no, I know... I- I guess I'm just now more acutely aware that I have 10 million dollars chained to me is all." Vaughn messed with the locks on the briefcase, sounding even more nervous than before. "In a neighborhood, I might add, of backplanet nutjobs." 

"Just keep your eyes open for the place, okay? I don't wanna be here any longer than we have to." Rhys sighed, glancing around for the World of Curiosities. "And uh, watch the money." 

"Oh, _really?_ " Vaughn said sarcastically.

"Listen, one tap on the arm and Yvette can send down a Loader Bot if things get too entertaining." Rhys reached down to the center console and held up a black cylinder with a red button. "And she gave me this. It is a stun baton. I do not know how it works, but it is definitely neat." He sounded almost wistful, while Vaughn just rolled his eyes. 

"Yeah, a stick. Neato." Sarcasm from the money man again. "God I can't wait to be in that chair. You and me, Yvette... I mean, we bring this key back and they're gonna make us the once and future kings of that place for sure." Vaughn had a much brighter tone now. "They'll send in a crew to use the key... And then that's it! It's kick back on the moon beach time." 

"Yeah yeah, we'll pop champagne and everything after we get back with the key." Rhys muttered. They drove in silence for a few minutes, until a beeping sound sounded. 

"Well, the tracker's beep beep beeping but I don't see the place." Vaughn looked out his window while Rhys leaned forward to better look out the front windshield. 

"It's... The World of Curiosities, right?" Rhys questioned, slamming on his breaks to let someone pass by in front of them. 

"Yeah do you see it?" Vaughn asked hopefully. 

"No." Rhys answered shortly. 

"Could ask one of them." Vaughn nodded his head at a man buying meat from a meat cart and the man running said meat cart. The meat seemed very questionable. "They seem... Normalish." 

"I dunno... we can still just find it. I hate asking for help." Rhys muttered distastefully. 

"We're on a very strict time limit here, Rhys. If Vasquez comes down here before we're finished... I mean, I don't even..." Vaughn trailed off. It was all the convincing Rhys needed to exit the car. They both got out, glancing around the area they had stopped in. 

There was a porta-potty. "For a titan ass, make it Titan Class". Rhys knocked, which got him a "Slag off!" and some really lovely bowel movement noises. There was also a man on the ground who was the definition of 'dead to the world' asleep. He tried to ask him a question, but only got snores in return. Finally, there was the meat cart. It seemed to hold mostly skag meat, but some of it seemed... un-skag like, and undefined as well. The two Hyperion men took their chances and went up to the man behind the cart.

The man had red markings on his face. Whether it was paint or blood, neither were sure and didn't really want to find out. He had kabobs of meat grilling on the meat cart, which apparently doubled as a grill, and didn't seem real friendly. He eyed the two as he flipped his meats.

Rhys crossed his arms, clearing his throat. "Excuse me sir, do you know where the, uh, "World of Curiosities" is?" He asked. He got no answer. Vaughn walked up, carrying the case attached to his wrist. 

"It should be around here." Vaughn added, glancing around. They both looked very out of place. 

"You lost?" The meat-man asked. His voice was gruff and low. "What're you here for?" 

Rhys kept his cool, to his credit. "It's just a simple business deal... A few papers to sign, and then we're out. Easy." He explained casually. The man narrowed his eyes at the two, eyeing them suspiciously. His eyes flickered down to the case. 

"Huh. Those the papers?" He stared a hole into the case. 

Vaughn shifted uncomfortably. "Of a sort." His hand gripped the case handle tighter. Rhys made the mistake of glancing behind him. The mans eyes shifted down to his vest, which said Hyperion on it. 

"You're Hyperion." He growled. "You egg suckers ruined this town, you know that?" He walked around the cart, holding his huge butchers knife covered in blood in his hand menacingly. "Atlas were bastards, but at least they had the good sense to fail. When Jack came, he turned everything to smoke." He was glaring at Rhys now. 

"Listen. All we want are directions to the World of Curiosities. That's it, okay? We get that, and we're gone." Rhys was still remaining rather calm. Vaughn looked really nervous now. 

"Gone, huh?" The man looked down again at the case. "Hey little man." He slammed his knife into the cart, where it stuck. "What's in the case?" He started to walk towards Vaughn, who backed away slowly. "Hey kitty cat. Show us what's in the case." He demanded. Rhys stood between him and Vaughn firmly, staring him down. 

"Okay now, look... Before we get all..." Rhys glanced around as people started to get up, coming towards them. The man once again grabbed his knife. "Bent..."

"Is there like a.... convention or something?" Vaughn said. He knew there wasn't. 

Rhys sighed. "Bandits."


End file.
